[jtstagman]

Please compare Houghton and Traverse City for living in and/or retirement. All thoughts welcome. Thanks.

[MTUCache]

Before we get into the finer points of Traverse City's vacation-like community... for clarification's sake, are we talking about Houghton (western end of the UP) or Houghton Lake (in the middle of the LP)?? Not that it makes a big difference in my opinion either way, but I think you'll find that those two communities are quite different.

If you can afford the luxurious lake-living around TC, and can put up with the vacationing traffic during the beach months, I think that one is a no-brainer. There's a ton to do around there, and it's a pretty happening and fun place. Then again, I don't know many people who retire with that kind of money.

[jtstagman]

I was wondering about Houghton in the U.P. compared to Traverse City. I understand Traverse is bigger. But I was interested in all facets, natural beauty, etc. Thanks

[Sparrow_temp]

I'd choose Traverse City. Houghton is a bit too remote. There are times when it's nice to have larger cities closer than what's available to Houghton.

[FESTER]

It depends what you are looking for. If you like lots of snow, short summers, limited shopping, cheap housing, friendly people, lots of outdoor activities both summer and winter then Houghton would be a good choice. Traverse is pretty much 180 degrees from that except for the outdoor thing. Now before anybody gets too exited, I am not just talking out of mt a**. I lived in TC for 10 years and I now live near Houghton. The best advice I can give is a long visit to both places and see which suits you the best. Heck you may not like either one. Good luck!

[MTUCache]

Just out of curiosity, what is it about Houghton that has peaked your interests?

If you're looking for more of a "small town" feel, and less of a "college town" atmosphere, and still with the Keweenaw Peninsula flavor, there's plenty of other great places around there (Hancock, Calumet, Eagle Harbor, or even Copper Harbor... if you want to get WAY out of the way).

As far as natural beauty and remote spaces, you can't do much better than the Keweenaw.

I guess without having first-hand experience at both Houghton and TC though, you're not going to get how different they really are. TC is very much a vacation/destination type place with shopping districts and such. Houghton has a much older, slower, and less-uppity feel about it (and also lacks a lot of the excitement and amenities).

The Leelanau Peninsula is a place where people retire, in every sense of the word, and spend their savings on a boat, a lakefront home, and greens fees at the local country club.

The Keweenaw Peninsula is a place where people don't really "retire", as much as they just can't work anymore and would rather spend time at the local diner when they're not living with their kids.

[jtstagman]

I guess I picked Houghton because of it being, Im guessing, the largest town in the Kewenaw. Anything is that area would suffice. You mention the Kewenaw flavor, curious about your feedback on that. Its sounds like Traverse City is pretty sprawling. How does the beauty in Houghton area compare to Traverse? Also curious about which area is better for boating. Thanks.

[MTUCache]

Originally Posted by jtstagman

I guess I picked Houghton because of it being, Im guessing, the largest town in the Kewenaw. Anything is that area would suffice. You mention the Kewenaw flavor, curious about your feedback on that. Its sounds like Traverse City is pretty sprawling. How does the beauty in Houghton area compare to Traverse? Also curious about which area is better for boating. Thanks.

No problem.

I think most people would laugh at the concept of TC being "sprawling", but it is compared to Houghton (or any place in the UP besides Marquette) a much bigger place.

The Keweenaw flavor is.... I'm not even sure how you can explain it really... I'll have to stew on that for a while in order to come up with the proper description.

As for boating, anything in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula is going to be exponentially better than the UP. Not exactly TC, but in the same area you've got Petosky, Charlevoix, Torch Lake, etc, all of which are boating havens (both big-water Great Lakes boating and inland lake recreational boating). There is some boating in the Houghton/Hancock/Keweenaw areas, but its' rather limited (especially in terms of inland lakes). The season in the UP is going to be significantly shorter (by two or three months probably) than it would be in the Lower Peninsula.

If you're interested in pleasure boating out on the Great Lakes, with a pretty serious boat, I think Superior could be just as nice as Lake Michigan. But, if you're interested in pontooning or recreational boating on inland lakes, you're going to want to stick around the northern LP.

[cagey cretin]

I saw a show once where some kayakers took a floater plane way up in N Canada to a group of islands near Greenland for a vacation. Thats what the Keewenaw reminds me of, frigid, remote, pristine. Houghton is your typical midwestern small town of 15-20 thousand people